Rock rebel and country outlaw, Hank Williams III won't be tied down

In the family tradition practiced by his famous father and forged by his legendary grandfather, Hank Williams III loves to break the rules.

Which might explain why Hank 3, as he calls himself these days, decided to mix punishing, pummeling speed metal with recordings of cattle auctioneers plying their trade.

The mix of ear-splitting metal riffs and rapidfire Western auction talk is certainly ... unique.

"It's actual cattle auctioneers and we make music around that," Williams explained in a recent telephone interview. This is not rap-metal. It's something else entirely.

"The rap world has spoofed on auctioneers before, but I'm kind of the pioneer of doing it in the heavy metal world. I was raised on a cattle farm ... It's just basically just another way of singing ... It was a natural fit, a different way to have some fun with it. A different kind of light in heavy metal."

Right now, Williams uses samples of auctioneering when performing live, but he'd love to bring a flesh-and-blood practitioner on tour. He just hasn't found the right voice yet.

"I'll keep doing this until I can find the right kid who can go on the road with us," he said. "Most auctioneers I talk to, I tell them, 'Don't quit your day job yet. It's not no grand, easy lifestyle you're thinking about. It's 12 dudes on a bus and you're barely making $150 a show. You're only on stage for 25 minutes then you have 23 hours of nothing to do – if you're wanting to be an auctioneer in a band.' "

Williams' eagerness to innovate is reflected in his recording projects. Last fall, he released four full albums of original material.

"Ghost to a Ghost/Guttertown," is a double-album set that features straight-ahead, roughneck country, flavored with what Williams has dubbed his "hellbilly" style and a bit of Cajun influence. Tom Waits and Les Claypool of the band Primus guested on that record, according to a press release.

The other two releases, "Attention Deficit Domination" and "3 Bar Ranch Cattle Callin," are metal-based records on which Williams plays every instrument.

Williams said the idea of releasing four records at one time appealed to his sense of adventure.

"It's just doing something different in the music business," he said. "Name me one person who's ever come close to doing something like that ... It's just being different, making my own mark, going against the grain, DIY."

Williams is also happy to be away from Curb Records, the label that released his early albums including "Risin' Outlaw" from 1999 and "Lovesick, Broke & Driftin'" from 2002.

"I refused to sell any Curb Records products at my shows," Williams said. "They never respected me as an artist ... They don't know anything about good business or respecting musicians."

Williams new discs are released on his own independent Megaforce Records label. Of course, those discs will be on sale when Williams plays The NorVa in Norfolk on Wednesday, March 14.

Williams, at age 39, shows no signs of wanting to play along with the mainstream music business. Playing both hardcore country and blistering heavy metal isn't necessarily a good marketing strategy, but it feels right to Williams.

"If I was just a country singer, I wouldn't be as interesting," he said. "If I was just a heavy-metal guy, it wouldn't be as cool. Music has no boundaries, no limitations. I do what I can to break those walls down."

Want to go?

Who: Hank 3

When: 8 p.m. Wednesday, March 14

Where: The NorVa, Norfolk

Tickets: $15, plus service charges, advance from Ticketmaster, $20 day of show